Book picks similar to
Scars of My Past by D.C. Renee
romance
contemporary
dnf
contemporary-romance
The Day She Cried
K. Webster - 2017
Broken. Lost.And for the first time in a long time, I feel free.Free from our past. Free from my present that suffocates me. Free to destroy her future.Her misery is my music.Thrilling. Invigorating. Intoxicating.For so long, all I’ve done is hate her.So why do I love her?
Used
Lynetta Halat - 2014
No worries. I've come to terms with it, and you will too. I’m not one of those girls who thinks she’s too plain, too fat, too skinny, too shy … no, I don’t have that kind of luck. I’m the girl who knows she’s just right for everyone. — Denver A reputation as a manwhore–with–a–heart–of–gold tends to precede me. But, I don’t do girls with issues, that is until this girl. It's this girl I want to fix. This girl I want to protect. And maybe … more. — Ransom Being in love with the same girl your entire life isn't all it's cracked up to be. She uses me in every way imaginable. How does she see me? I am her perpetual one-night stand. No strings, no attachments. Just mind-numbing sex ... for her anyway. — Greer Feeling like the life is being choked out of her in the small town of Anaconda, Montana, Denver Dempsey craves the escape that college offers … even if that means leaving her “best friend with benefits” and looking for a new way to forget. Thinking she's found the perfect hookup in Ransom, Denver's outlook on college is bright. That is, until Greer shows up looking for a second chance, and Ransom's interest turns to hatred. Love. Hate. Triangle. Who's using who?
Intended for mature audiences only. Contains subject matter that may be sensitive to some.
Beneath Your Beautiful
Tamsyn Bester - 2013
Her name exposes her to the demons of her past but remembering her reason for moving across the country to start over is what keeps her alive. For the first time since the brutal murder of her mother, Huntley allows herself to care about the people around her.Grayson Carter has everything a 21yr old College Senior could wish for – he’s the star of Whitley University’s football team, he has a different girl willing to be in his bed every night and a supportive family. For years he has managed keep his family together and hide their dark secrets from the small town of Breckinridge, Alabama. When Huntley and Grayson meet, a force so strong pulls them together in a hurricane of feelings neither of them could have ever anticipated. Huntley and Grayson try to stay away from each other, but when Huntley’s demons seek her out, their pasts become the biggest storm of all. Will they learn to trust each other and build a new future together or will they simply do nothing to prevent history from repeating itself?“You don’t want to see beneath the surface Gray, there is a reason I only show people what they want to see.” – Huntley“You are so determined to hide your broken soul that you don’t see how beautiful those pieces make you. You have completely disarmed me Huntley, you have left my heart and soul naked and all I want is for you to see that I am in love with every goddamn broken piece of you. I don’t want anyone else.” - Grayson
Fighting for Flight
J.B. Salsbury - 2013
Liberated from the neglectful home of her prostitute mother, she finds solace as a mechanic. With few friends, she’s content with the simple life. Flying under the radar is all she knows, and more than she expects.Until she catches the eye of local celebrity, UFL playboy Jonah Slade. Weeks away from his title fight, Jonah is determined to stay focused on everything he’s trained so hard to achieve. Undefeated in the octagon, he’s at the height of his career. But resisting Raven’s effortless allure and uncomplicated nature is a fight he can’t win. Jonah trades in his bad-boy reputation and puts his heart on the line. But when her father contacts her, setting in motion the ugly truth of her destiny, Jonah must choose. In a high-stakes gamble where love and freedom hang in the balance, a war is waged where the price of losing is a fate worse than death.Will the hotheaded Jonah be able to restrain his inner fighter to save the woman he loves? Or will Raven be forced into a life she’s been desperate to avoid?Word Count: 112,406
Reclaiming the Sand
A. Meredith Walters - 2014
Tormenter and tormented. Villain and hero. Ellie McCallum was a bully. No connection to anyone or anything. A sad and lonely existence for a young woman who had come to expect nothing more for herself. Her only happiness coming from making others miserable. Particularly Freaky Flynn. Flynn Hendrick lived a life completely disconnected even as he struggled to become something more than that boy with Asperger's. He was taunted and teased, bearing the brunt of systematic and calculated cruelty, ultimately culminating in a catastrophic turn of events that brought Ellie and Flynn’s worlds crashing down.But then Flynn and Ellie grew up. And moved on.Until years later when their paths unexpectedly cross again and the bully and the freak are face to face once more.When labels come to define you, finding yourself feels impossible. Particularly for two people disconnected from the world who inexplicably find a connection in each other. And out of the wreckage of their tragic beginnings, an unlikely love story unfolds.But a painful past doesn’t always want to let go. And old wounds are never truly healed…and sometimes the further you try to run from yourself the closer you come to who you really are.
Out of Line
Jen McLaughlin - 2013
When my roommate dragged me to my first college party, I met Finn Coram and my life turned inside out. He knows how to break the rules and is everything I never knew I wanted. A Marine by day and surfer by night, he pushes me away even as our attraction brings us closer. Now I am finally free to do whatever I want. I know what I want. I choose Finn. Trying to play by the rules... I always follow orders. My job, my life, depends on it. I thought this job would be easy, all the rules were made crystal clear, but when I met Carrie Wallington, everything got muddy. She's a rule I know I shouldn't break, but damn if I don’t inch closer to the breaking point each time I see her. I’m ready to step out of line. And even worse? I’m living a lie. They say the truth will set you free, but in my case… The truth will cost me everything.
Boys South of the Mason Dixon
Abbi Glines - 2017
Worn, faded blue jeans, slow Southern drawls, and those naughty moments in the back of pickup trucks a girl never forgets. Welcome to the world of the Sutton boys. Five brothers who fight, party, drink a little too much, but more importantly, they love their momma. Nothing can tear them apart… until the girl next door wins more than one of their hearts.
The Love Game
Emma Hart - 2013
Arrogant, egotistical, and the playboy of the University of California, Berkeley, he's everything her brother Pearce has taught her to despise. So why, when the girls challenge her to play the player, why doesn't she say no? She doesn't know either.Braden wanted fiery little Maddie the second he laid eyes on her - and he'd do anything to have her, hence why he's agreed to make her fall in love with him. After all, it's the only way he'll get what he wants. Sex.But, as Braden discovers, there's more to the girl from Brooklyn than he ever imagined - and he can't help but care about the broken girl behind those pretty green eyes.Maddie finds Braden isn't just a walking erection - he actually has feelings. He can be sweet, funny and his good looks don't exactly hurt. That means trouble - but when her brother Pearce turns up in Berkeley begging for her help, she realises Braden and Pearce aren't so alike anymore.And maybe, just maybe, they're exactly what each other needs.
Machiavellian
Bella Di Corte - 2020
I hungered to be seen. There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello: He was gorgeous. He was reclusive. He was considered one of New York’s most savage animals. And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement – you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave. Life was never that simple, though. By the age of twenty-one, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings. Capo might’ve been the only man to ever see me, but I had made a vow to myself: I would never owe anyone anything. Most of all, the man I called boss. I killed to stay hidden. Mariposa Flores thought she owed nothing to no one, but she owed everything…to me, the ghost the world had once called The Machiavellian Prince of New York.
Josh & Hannah
Lynda Chance - 2013
She's perfect and new . . . but she's a McIntyre. She's from the richest family in the county, and he's a Turner, from the wrong side of the proverbial tracks. And to make matters worse, there's no love lost between their families.New Adult 92K words / suitable for 18+ AN ALPHA-MALE IN THE MAKING
Courting Julia
Mary Balogh - 1993
Yet for all the practical men who offered their hands, none could make her heart soar like Frederick, the reputed rake. Julia knows it's safer to be sensible, but how can she resist the rapturous desire she feels for Frederick? Original Regency Romance.
More Than Words
Mia Sheridan - 2018
Her prince. They became each other's refuge, a safe and magical place far from their troubled lives. Until the day Callen kissed her--Jessica's first real, dreamy kiss—and then disappeared from her life without a word.Years later, everyone knows who Callen Hayes is. Famous composer. Infamous bad boy. What no one knows is that Callen's music is now locked deep inside, trapped behind his own inner demons. It's only when he withdraws to France to drink his way through the darkness that Callen stumbles into the one person who makes the music return. Jessica. His Jessie. And she still tastes of fresh, sweet innocence . . . even as she sets his blood on fire.But they don't belong in each other's worlds anymore. There are too many mistakes. Too many secrets. Too many lies. All they have is that instinctive longing, that need—and something that looks dangerously like love.No one lays open the heart and soul quite like New York Times bestselling author Mia Sheridan.
Deviant
Jaimie Roberts - 2014
This is not a fairy tale. He is not her Prince Charming about to whisk her away into the sunset. This is a story about betrayal, lust, desire and, ultimately, revenge...And revenge can only lead to one thing. TylerHe was my stranger, my visitor, my shadow in the corner of my room. He stalked me, watched me, knew everything about me. But all I could do was sit and wait. I waited for him to visit me night after night. He was becoming my addiction, my craving, my obsession. He knew every inch of me, but I knew nothing about him. His calls himself Lotus and, as crazy as it sounds, I think I’m falling in love. DeanI wanted to take her, possess her, dominate her, and ruin her. I wanted to ravish her, please her, and consume her until I couldn’t take much more of her.She will want me to kiss her. She will want me to hold her all night so that she feels a connection with me. I would make it so that she would seek me out in the dark. The one that satisfies her ultimate fantasy. A stranger who sneaks into her room. Someone who gives her the ultimate pleasure, but also seeks to give her ultimate pain. Pain she has never had to endure. Pain that will eat away at her until there is nothing left.She was my nemesis, I was her lotus. And payback was a bitch.
Once Perfect
Cecy Robson - 2014
Hers wasn’t supposed to be this hard. They come from different worlds, but fate lures them together in a way neither expected in Cecy Robson’s raw, steamy New Adult debut—perfect for fans of Monica Murphy and J. Lynn. Evelyn Preston’s future once looked perfect—until her wealthy father was caught in an embezzlement scandal and took his own life. Alone and struggling to pay her college tuition and bills, Evelyn finds a job as a waitress at the ultra-hip nightclub Excess, where she used to have more in common with the privileged private-school clientele than her fellow staff members. But something attracts her to the sexy six-foot-four bouncer and underground MMA fighter Mateo Tres Santos. Although they’ve led different lives, their troubled pasts bonds them in both survival and love. Mateo is ex-army who wound up in prison for assaulting the man who harmed his sister. Now he’s feeling the same protective impulse for this petite blond waitress. When Evelyn experiences a panic attack at the club, Mateo comes to her rescue. And when Mateo is wounded shielding her from a brawl, Evelyn returns the favor and comes to his aid. As their attraction intensifies, Mateo is determined to find out what nightmares are lurking in Evelyn’s past—even if that means tackling his own to save her.
Just a Little Crush
Renita Pizzitola - 2014
. . or, at least, they try to. In Renita Pizzitola’s emotional novel of heartache and seduction, one college freshman just can’t get enough. Brinley Dawson doesn’t drink, she studies—and despite the accusations of her alcoholic mother, she’s still a virgin. But if Brinley’s life is so put together, why is she freaking out to be going to college with the gorgeous, green-eyed jerk she kissed on a stupid dare in high school? Ryder Briggs can have any girl he wants . . . and the rumors say that he does. So why, after publicly embarrassing Brinley four years ago, is he suddenly acting like he’s interested? Ryder never forgot Brinley. In fact, those perfect seven minutes permanently raised the bar for what a kiss could be. The truth is, Ryder doesn’t dare get too close to anyone. He knows how that worked out for his parents. But when his roommate takes a shot at Brinley, Ryder can’t contain his jealousy. Now he must do the hardest thing he’s ever done: forget about sex and convince Brinley his feelings are real. Brinley isn’t sure whether she believes Ryder, but for the first time, her body isn’t playing by the rules. Then she discovers that she’s an unwilling part of a cruel game, humiliating her all over again—and Ryder might be to blame. Has Brinley’s little crush turned into a huge mistake . . . or has she found the one guy worth trusting with her heart?